Car runs off County Line Road, into St. Vrain River bed east of Longmont

Longmont Times-Call

Posted:
11/25/2013 08:57:05 PM MST

Updated:
11/26/2013 05:18:24 PM MST

A Firestone woman was injured Monday evening when she drove past "road closed" signs on County Line Road and into the bed of the St. Vrain River, where her Ford Escort landed on its roof.

The woman was northbound on the road shortly before 7:30 and managed to maneuver her car past a 20-foot-long washed-out portion of the northbound lanes and then off the road where the bridge over the river once stood, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

The bridge had washed out during the September floods.

A nearby resident heard the woman yelling for help, saw the car, then called 911. Longmont dispatchers took the call at 7:27.

The unidentified driver, 44, made her way out of the car and was helped to an ambulance by rescuers. She was treated at Longmont United Hospital with what were described as moderate injures, including lacerations, then was released. She also was suffering from hypothermia, state Trooper M.D. Hinman reported.

The car landed about 10 feet beyond the end of the road, in a portion of the river bed that had been widened by the raging floodwaters. It was short of the river itself.

When rescuers first arrived, the woman told them that another woman had been in the car with her and had walked away from the scene. That led officers on an hour-and-a-half search in the dark. The woman recanted that story at the hospital, Hinman said.

The woman did, however, say that a small dog remained in the car. Firefighters found the dog, which appeared to be OK.